


Inevitable

by heartlikethat



Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: All The Heartsongs, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27112304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartlikethat/pseuds/heartlikethat
Summary: Zoey’s powers glitch again, except this time she doesn’t realize it’s happening. In fact, Max seems to be the only one who can hear her singing. What could Zoey possibly be avoiding now?
Relationships: Zoey Clarke/Max Richman
Comments: 11
Kudos: 48





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is purely self-indulgent and I _did not_ take it very seriously. Max and Zoey might be ooc but honestly? I don’t care lol.
> 
> Also, if you were wondering...doesn’t this bitch have a life? The answer is no, I do not. 
> 
> The two songs in this part are “Cologne” by Alexz Johnson and “Dress” by Taylor Swift.

The sound of a door opening drew Max’s attention as he reached the landing of the second floor of Zoey’s apartment building. His eyes followed as a frazzled Zoey emerged from Mo’s apartment, pausing a second before she spun back around. “You know, I came over for a friendly visit, not to be ambushed!” The door closed in Zoey’s face, who promptly threw her hands up in the air before stalking over to her own door.

She must have noticed him standing there in her peripheral vision because her head suddenly snapped in his direction, an expression of shock on her face.

“Max! Uh...what’re you doing here? I thought you weren’t picking me up until two?” Shock turned to panic as she pulled her phone out of her back pocket and glanced at the screen, no doubt checking the time. “Yeah, it’s not even one yet.”

“Well, it’s just that Mo did such an amazing job dressing me for, you know...” _Simon and Jessica’s engagement party where you almost burned the place down_ , “so I thought I’d ask for his help again.”

“Weird that he didn’t mention that when I was in there...” Zoey trailed off distractedly as her gaze settled on him. She tilted her head, a faraway look in her eyes.

And then she was singing.

 _“I bet I look good on your arm,”_ she strode over to him, running her hands across his chest, up to his shoulders, down his arms, _“I bet you look good with your black tux on. Even better after Jack and soda, even more handsome as you grow older,”_ she winked at him.

When Max blinked, she was back standing by her apartment door, like she had never moved at all, like she hadn’t just been seductively running her hands over his body mere seconds ago. _What is happening right now?_

“Uh...Zoey...?” He hedged, staring at her in bewilderment. “You just sang to me. Are your powers glitching again?”

Zoey quirked an eyebrow at him. “I don’t remember singing. Are you sure I did? Because the last time I sang out loud, I was _painfully_ aware of every cringeworthy moment,” Max watched as Zoey visibly shuddered and he assumed she was recalling her “Pressure” performance in front of the entire fourth floor.

He shook his head. _Did I just imagine her singing?_ It had been a long week at work, often staying past midnight with his team to ensure their latest video game would be ready for release next week. One night, he had fallen asleep in his car. What was intended to be a brief resting of his eyes before he drove back to his apartment ended up with him slumped over, only to be awoken with a start when his face slammed into the steering wheel.

Needless to say, Max was exhausted. So, Zoey singing to him? Here? Now? It certainly didn’t seem very likely. _Must be the sleep deprivation getting to me._

“Ah, yeah. It was nothing. Sorry, I’m just a little tired, I guess,” he muttered, shaking his head again, trying to gain some clarity while Zoey was staring at him with concern in her eyes. “Max, if you don’t want to come with me today, I completely understand. You look like you could use about a week’s worth of sleep.”

Max shook his head for the third time in less than a minute. “Zoey, absolutely nothing could stop me from accompanying you today. Honestly, I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.”

“Okay...well I’ll be over once I’m done getting ready then.” Zoey shot Max one last look of concern before she disappeared into her apartment. Max raised a hand to knock on Mo’s door. When it swung open, Mo took one look at Max and sighed, “We have got _a lot_ of work to do!”

As Mo prodded and poked and measured, Max ruminated on what brought him here in the first place — Zoey asking him to be her Plus One to her cousin’s wedding.

It had been six months since the death of Mitch Clarke and it had been six months without a single mention of the events that preceded his passing.

Max could wait, and he _would_ wait, until Zoey was ready to have that discussion. He had meant what he said, one hundred percent, that she needed to focus on herself before they attempted to unpack whatever just happened between them.

But lately, it seemed more and more like Zoey wanted to forget anything had happened at all. It seemed like she wanted to go back to being _just friends_ and pretend like they hadn’t almost had sex against the wall in her apartment that night.

Which meant Max was at a loss of what to do next. Any time he tried to bring it up, Zoey would deflect. If that was what she wanted, to remain _just friends_ , Max could, and he _would_ accept that...but only after they talked about it. Because _they needed_ to talk about it. 

His thoughts were interrupted when the subject of said thoughts walked into the room wearing nothing like Max had ever seen her wear before (as she typically was always so modestly dressed).

Not that what she wore had any influence on how he perceived her. Zoey could be wearing a spacesuit and he’d think she was the sexiest astronaut he had ever seen and _oh god, I must really be losing it if that was an actual thought I just had._

However, at the present time, Zoey was not wearing a modest dress nor was she wearing a spacesuit. 

No, this dress was very... _revealing_. Revealing in the sense that it was a navy, form-fitting, off the shoulder dress that revealed her shoulders and collarbone and effectively turned Max’s brain into mush.

He was transfixed by the sight of her collarbone, but... _surely I’ve seen her collarbone before?_ He must have, at some point during their almost six year friendship. Except he felt like he would remember it because how could he forget when the sight of it now was causing his brain to short circuit?

Max mentally screamed at himself to pick up his jaw and say actual words. _Good lord, it’s not like she’s standing naked in front of me. It’s a freaking **collarbone**...what is wrong with me right now?_

“ _Wow_ , that dress... _Zoey_...” he breathed and well, they _were_ words, at any rate. He would have preferred to string together something a little more coherent, but— 

_“Say my name and everything just stops,”_ Zoey was singing again. _“I don’t want you like a best friend,”_ she skimmed her hands over her chest and down her stomach, _“Only bought this dress so you could take it off, take it off...”_ the slight rolling of her hips was the reason Max temporarily forgot how to breathe.

Like before, her singing ended almost as abruptly as it began and Max couldn’t really be sure it happened at all or if he was hallucinating from severe lack of sleep.

He peered over at Mo, whose face gave no indication that anything amiss had occurred, but still, he asked, “Mo...did you see... _that?_ ”

“See what? Your drool hitting the floor?”

_Okay, so it’s just me then. Fantastic._

When he directed his attention back on Zoey, she was smiling at him (well, it was more of a small, self-satisfied smirk really). “Ready to go?”

Max had a feeling it was going to be a long day.


	2. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are _so many_ (8) heartsongs in this part and I’ve listed them in order of appearance.
> 
> “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles  
> “Last First Kiss” by Ron Pope  
> “Somebody Else” by The 1975  
> “Jealousy” by Liz Phair  
> “Is That Alright?” by Lady Gaga  
> “(You Drive Me) Crazy” by Britney Spears  
> “Groovy Kind Of Love” by Phil Collins  
> “Accidentally In Love” by Counting Crows
> 
> Let me just reiterate how seriously I did not take this. LOL enjoy! (or don’t, you might hate it and that’s okay, I still love you for reading it ❤️)

By the time they exited Zoey’s apartment building, Max remembered he had parked a few blocks away due to construction and he promptly relayed that information to her. “I’ll go grab the car and come pick you up.”

But Zoey was already moving in the direction he pointed. “I don’t mind walking.” Max fell into step beside her as she told him how, when she came into work yesterday, there was a pile of fifty-seven pens on her desk. “I guess Tobin’s been hiding my pens in the Nest for years, but Tobin 2.0 decided to graciously return them to me.”

They kept walking and when Zoey’s hand brushed against his for the third time, he didn’t need a heartsong to let him know what she wanted.

He got one anyway.

 _“Oh yeah, I’ll tell you something I think you’ll understand,”_ Max watched in amusement as Zoey twirled around him, _“When I say that something, I wanna hold your hand.”_

Max reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers as Zoey stared at him in mild alarm, probably wondering how he just managed to read her mind. _Yeah, I’d like to know that, too. Do I suddenly have her powers? Is that why she doesn’t realize she’s singing?_

It didn’t make sense to Max, but to be fair, Zoey’s powers in general didn’t make sense to him.

Zoey made no move to pull her hand away, instead she gave a gentle squeeze as she cleared her throat. “Uh, I just wanted to say thank you for being my date. You’re a great... _friend_...” she finished lamely, sounding unsure of the word.

“Of course,” he murmured, “Anything for you, Zo.”

* * *

The car ride to the ceremony passed without further incident and when Zoey still hadn’t spontaneously burst into song as the bride and groom were going in for their first kiss as husband and wife, Max (foolishly) thought he was in the clear.

As he watched the newlyweds pull apart, both grinning from ear to ear, he felt Zoey’s gaze on him. Like a magnet, she drew him in and he found he couldn’t look away even if he wanted to (he didn’t want to).

 _“When I dream about tomorrow, I've got you on my mind,”_ her voice was soft and sweet and slow, her hands reaching up to cradle his face, _“I am hopelessly devoted, just want you in my life,”_ she leaned in, her warm breath tickling his cheek, _“What I'm trying to say, in my own simple way,”_ her thumb brushed across his bottom lip and his eyes fell shut, _“Is I want you to be my last first kiss.”_

Max held his breath, waiting to feel her lips pressed against his. Several moments passed where nothing happened and when he finally opened his eyes, he saw Zoey standing up, applauding the happy couple.

Once again, Max struggled to comprehend what was happening. When Zoey heard someone sing a heartsong, that meant she was obligated to help them. So, if Max currently possessed her power (which it seemed like he did), and he was hearing Zoey sing, did that mean he was now obligated to help her?

Help her with what, exactly? Help her admit that she had feelings for him?

_Ha ha, good one, Universe. You do realize that Zoey avoids dealing with her emotions better than the Zodiac Killer avoided being captured or Voldemort avoided the dentist?_

Max couldn’t help but think the Universe was setting him up to fail.

“Hey, Zoey?” She glanced down at him. “Got anything going on in that mind of yours? Maybe something you want to tell me?”

_Wow, that was real subtle. Good job, you idiot._

Zoey tilted her head and shot him a quizzical look. “Um...not anything in particular. Are you okay, Max?”

It was a fair question.

Max nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s, uh, let’s head to the reception.”

_Definitely gonna need to be a bit more smooth next time..._

* * *

Zoey sang a total of three heartsongs during dinner alone.

As guests started making their way onto the dance floor, one of the bridesmaids approached their table and asked Max if he wanted to dance.

“Oh...uh...” he sputtered, taken aback by the sudden invitation and looked over at Zoey for help.

 _“I hate to think about you with somebody else,”_ is what she sang to him, but what she said in reality was, “Go ahead, Max. I know you’re dying to get out there and dance. You two have fun.” To the untrained eye, the smile that Zoey gave looked genuine, but Max knew her better than he knew himself and he could detect the faint tightness around her mouth and eyes as she waved them off.

The woman, encouraged by Zoey’s words of permission and undeterred by Max’s look of extreme reluctance, dragged him onto the dance floor where (thankfully) an upbeat song was playing.

He didn’t even attempt to feign interest in his dance partner as he stared shamelessly at Zoey, who was staring right back at him as she sang once more. _“It's all I can do to conceal my feelings of jealousy,”_ she stood up, waltzing over to them, _“I don’t want to look, but I’m already hooked on jealousy,”_ Max watched as her eyes bore daggers into the woman vying for his attention. _“Jealousy,”_ she breathed, her voice fading out as she slowly walked backward until she was once again at the table, sitting down and grabbing her nephew, Peter, from David’s arms so he and Emily could go dance, take a break, throw back some shots, whatever they wanted to do without a baby in tow.

His heart melted at the soft look of love on her face as she peered down at Peter. _God, she’s so beautiful..._ Max was abruptly ripped from his pleasant thoughts when a hand wandered down to cup his ass. _Whoa! What the hell?_ He hastily took a step back before politely excusing himself and rejoining Zoey at the table.

His ass belonged to one woman and one woman only.

“May I?” Max asked, nodding toward Peter. Zoey handed him over, a broad smile lighting up her face as she drank in the sight with obvious appreciation. By now, Max recognized as that faraway look appeared in her eyes.

 _“I dream of our story, of our fairytale,”_ she rested her chin on her hands as she gazed fondly at the two of them, _“Family dinners and family trees, teaching the kids to say ‘thank you’ and ‘please,’ knowing if we stay together that things will be right.”_

Max felt his heart stop.

And then it was racing in his chest as it dawned on him what her heartsong implied.

_Oh. My. God. Am I dreaming?_

All of a sudden, everything made sense to Max. He knew why Zoey was having such a hard time admitting her feelings, why she kept putting off their much needed conversation.

Because she didn’t just _like_ Max, she loved him and wanted a future with him. She wanted _forever_ with him (according to her most recent heartsong, anyway). No wonder she was such a mess. That was a lot to process for a _normal_ person, he could only imagine how freaked out Zoey must have been by that realization.

Zoey was singing a new song before Max knew what hit him.

 _“Baby, I'm so into you. You got that somethin', what can I do?”_ Zoey pulled him to his feet. Peter, apparently, had been safely transferred to Maggie’s arms without him even realizing it, _“Baby, you spin me around, the earth is movin', but I can't feel the ground.”_ Max let Zoey twirl him around and when the song faded away, his head was still spinning.

_Doesn’t Zoey hear actual songs? Like from start to finish? Why am I only hearing snippets of songs? Am I just hearing her thoughts as they pass through her head? If that’s the case, her mind is kind of a mess..._

A familiar tune drifted out over the speakers (in reality), catching Max’s attention as he stood up and extended his hand to Zoey. “Dance with me?” She hesitated only a split second before taking his proffered hand and letting him lead her to the dance floor.

Max held her close, his hand resting comfortably on the small of her back as they swayed more than they danced, but Max didn’t mind, especially when Zoey relaxed in his arms and buried her head in the crook of his neck.

He reveled in the brief respite from Zoey singing her many, _many_ feelings because, frankly, it was exhausting. Max had no idea how she dealt with it on a daily basis. Well, no, he did have some idea how she managed it. _Because she’s a strong, incredible woman._ As that thought filtered across his mind, he felt compelled to repeat that sentiment so she could hear.

Zoey tilted her head up so she could see his face, her blue eyes glittering as they met his tender gaze. Her lips parted as she sucked in a steadying breath.

 _This is it. This is the moment Zoey tells me how she feels._ Max waited with bated breath for Zoey to say the words he had been hoping to hear for months (erm, years?).

_“When I'm feeling blue, all I have to do is take a look at you, then I'm not so blue.”_

_Um, okay. Or not._

Zoey was singing again. Only this time, she was singing along to the same song they were dancing to.

_Hello, Universe? Yes, hi, I am confused._

Max had no clue what was happening anymore and Zoey just kept singing. _“When you're close to me, I can feel your heart beat. I can hear you breathing near my ear. Wouldn't you agree, baby you and me got a groovy kind of love?”_

How was he supposed to get Zoey to confess anything when She. Would. Not. Stop. Singing?

He groaned and ran his hands down his face in exasperation when she jumped straight into a different song. Like she was literally jumping up and down. _“I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love! Accidentally!”_

Max didn’t know whether to be amused or horrified as he watched the scene play out in front of him. He settled on both. It was all very reminiscent of Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch.

_“I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in—”_

He couldn’t take it anymore. Max grabbed Zoey by the waist and pulled her flush against him, swallowing her exuberant singing with his mouth as he kissed her like his sanity depended on it (because it kind of did).

Zoey’s hands immediately tangled in his hair as she deepened the kiss and _oh, well this certainly seems very promising..._

Max reluctantly ended the kiss and watched as Zoey’s eyes fluttered open, peering up at him under her eyelashes. “What was that about?” Her cheeks were flushed and her voice was barely a whisper.

“Zoey, I’ve been hearing you sing, nonstop, all day. So, I’m going to ask you again...is there something you want to tell me?”

Quite a few emotions flashed across Zoey’s face before her expression turned into one of acceptance and determination. “Uh...well I might be, just a little bit, in love with you, I think.” Max watched as she slowly shook her head, her lips curving up slightly. “No, that’s not true. I know that I am. In love with you, I mean.”

When Max pulled her in for another kiss, the goofiest grin on his face, one word rang out loud and clear — _**“Finally.”**_

Max couldn’t say who uttered the word. Was it him? Her family? The Universe? It didn’t really matter. He was a little too preoccupied with kissing Zoey to care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just know that I laughed (and cringed) my way through writing this. Like so much.
> 
> And if you see a baby Leif Donnelly floating around on Twitter next week, that’s my son lol.


End file.
